By Domingo Dargbeh
Counselor Taiwan Saye Gongloe, has welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court to sentence social media talk show host, Justin Opa Yeazehn, popularly known as Prophet Key, to six months imprisonment for criminal contempt.
The Court ordered Prophet Key incarceration at the Monrovia Central Prison( South Beach) after finding that his public remarks directed at Chief Justice Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay and the judiciary constituted contempt and undermined the dignity of the Court.
Gongloe: Free Speech Has Limits
In his reaction to the ruling, Gongloe said he had received numerous calls from media professionals both in Liberia and abroad, because of his long-standing record defending press freedom and his role in drafting the original bill that evolved into the Kamara A. Kamara press freedom law.
Despite his strong advocacy for freedom of expression, Gongloe maintained that Prophet Key conduct crossed a legal boundary.
“The law is the law,” Gongloe said. “Prophet Key crossed the line. His speech was criminal, because abusive language under our law is a crime, and the Supreme Court is the highest court of the land.”
He said even lower courts should not tolerate abusive language from any citizen or resident, noting that the Supreme Court acted appropriately to protect institutional respect.
“I applaud the Supreme Court’s opinion. The Court did extremely well to defend the sacredness of the judiciary,” he stated. “We can do everything in this country, but the court must remain supreme.”
While reaffirming his lifelong commitment to defending free speech, Gongloe clarified that such freedoms do not extend to insults or conduct that erodes public respect for national institutions.
“I defend free speech, and I will defend it for my life — but not abusive languages. “